Goa may have country's first airbus

As a pilot project, the state government here has given green signal to Aerobus India Inc, a subsidiary of US-based OCS Inc, for a passenger service between twin cities of Panaji and Mapusa.

"Due to coming elections, we have only agreed to it in principle", clarifies chief minister Manohar Parrikar. They will carry out a feasibility report within four months, before signing any papers in this regard.

Dinesh Menon, the Aerobus president, plans to invest around Rs 400 crore in the pilot project while a passenger will not be charged more than 50 paise per km, if the service is launched.

Founding the technology in 1970, the airbus is a self-propelled vehicle working on suspended cables and rides high above the city roads, rivers and other impossible barriers. The modules - 2 to 12 at the most - can carry 80 to 320 passengers each and are fully air-conditioned.

The Aerobus is mainly eyeing upon the tourism potential Goa has to launch its pilot project. They also have plans to link other tourism-oriented cities and villages of Goa and the Mormugao Port Trust, as it also lifts and carries cargo.

After launching the first airbus in Zurich in Switzerland in 1970, Menon says it is also running in Germany and Canada while proposals are approved for China and Malaysia.

Having little different technology than the one invented by the Konkan Railway Corporation, the BJP government here has opted for the proposal, as it involves no investment from the government side.

"We were otherwise planning to invest around Rs 200 crore for the KRC proposal", said Parrikar. According to him, the national highways as well as other concerned central authorities have cleared the project.